


It's Been A Long Day

by HollyEDolly



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Feels, Kissing, Skye takes care of Grant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 09:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1381687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyEDolly/pseuds/HollyEDolly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Standing between his legs, she tilts his chin up gently with a cupped hand. Then as carefully as she can she dabs at the cut above his eye, she hears the gasp he tries to hide. Smiling as she shakes her head at him she lets her thoughts flick back to the first time they met. The interrogation room, the truth serum and the unwitting confession “I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women because I think it makes me seem more masculine”. Well in spite of all the changes that have taken place around here of late, it’s nice to see that some things never do. She can’t help the giggle that escapes her lips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Been A Long Day

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea that’s been knocking around my head since the last episode, this is just a one shot for Skyeward.

It’s been one of those days, where you wished you’d never rolled out of bed. Chasing down Deathlok was never going to be easy but watching from the van had been hell. Knowing there was nothing she and Fitz could do for the people they cared about. As tempting as it had been to try and do something, anything, the memories of the last time she had gone lone wolf smacked into her like a freight train. At one point when Ward had nearly been blasted into oblivion she had grabbed Fitz’s hand, closing her eyes and whispering a silent prayer. Her friend had squeezed her hand and she could have sworn he joined in with her “Let them be OK” chant. Things had gotten real very fast, loyalties were in question all over the place but her love for her friends and one particularly grumpy S.O. was not. She’d had to bite back the tears that clogged her throat as she tried to reconcile the Mike Peterson she knew with the sociopathic cyborg that had been firing at her team.

The bus was dark and eerily silent; they’d been forced to retreat. Other than herself and Fitz no-one had escaped without injury, whilst May and Coulson were both in the lab being patched up. She knew full well that Ward was licking his wounds so to speak, elsewhere. Knowing her S.O. as she did, she knew he’d go somewhere quiet and that’s how she found herself stood outside his door. He was definitely in there; she could see the soft glow of lamplight through the crack underneath the door. Raising her hand tentatively she knocks, she’ll leave if he wants to be alone but she really hopes he lets her in. Anxiety has been rooted in her chest since the whole ordeal began and she knows it won’t ease until she reassures herself he’s OK, or at least as OK as he can be. She hears movement on the other side of the door and then laboured footsteps; she hadn’t been able to get a proper look at him before. But she knew he’d been hurt, she could always tell when he was hiding things from her. Slowly the door slid open and she had to stifle a gasp, it probably looked worse than it was. If he’d suffered any major trauma there was no way he’d have gotten past Simmons, but damn, it looked painful and if the way he winced when he tried to smile at her was any indication it was.  
There was a large purple bruise blooming on his right cheek, a cut that was still trickling blood above his left eye. He was shirtless trying to deal with an angry looking graze that covered most of his abdomen. Seriously?! This guy was unreal there was being tough and then there was just plain stubborn! “Ward what the Hell?” she chastises clucking her tongue.

“It’s not as bad as it looks” he grimaces.

“Really...If it’s not that bad why do you look like you’re going to keel over?” she reasons crossing her arms so they rest under her breasts. His gaze falls down to her cleavage but he recovers himself quickly, well she guesses he’s not critical if he’s checking her out. She sighs and then grabs his hand “Come with me” she orders.

“Skye, I’m not bothering Simmons with this” he groans.

“I’m not taking you to Simmons, if she finds out you slipped by her she’ll kill you” he tries and fails to hide his limp, wrapping his arm around her neck she helps support his weight as she leads him down the corridor.

“Then where are you taking me?” his tone incredulous.

“You can’t clean up properly in your bunk, robot. We need running water and iodine, there’s some in the bathroom” she explains her tone exasperated; he really is a pain in her ass sometimes.

When they reach the bathroom she walks him over to a bench seat, it’s more like a small locker room than a bathroom in here. Rooting through the medicine cabinet she finds the iodine and some cotton balls. Running warm water into the sink, she hunts down a wash cloth. When she returns to him he’s leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. “Ward? You with me?” slowly his eyes open and flick to hers.

“Yeah” he answers quietly “You don’t have to do this you know, I can manage” he tries but she cuts him off.

Cocking her eyebrow she hits him with the one thing she knows will ensure he does as he’s told “Do I need to get Simmons? She still has that med pod and lots of pointy needles”

He chuckles and winces again “Ok, OK, I surrender don’t turn me in” he holds up his hands and she can’t help the indulgent smile that pulls at the corners of her mouth.

Standing between his legs, she tilts his chin up gently with a cupped hand. Then as carefully as she can she dabs at the cut above his eye, she hears the gasp he tries to hide. Smiling as she shakes her head at him she lets her thoughts flick back to the first time they met. The interrogation room, the truth serum and the unwitting confession “I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women because I think it makes me seem more masculine”. Well in spite of all the changes that have taken place around here of late, it’s nice to see that some things never do. She can’t help the giggle that escapes her lips.

“Is my pain amusing to you Skye?” he groans but she can tell he’s not really offended.

“No, I was just remembering something” she teases.

“What?” he’s looking at her now his eyes latched onto hers, all of a sudden what she’s doing feels terribly intimate. One hand tending his injuries, the other resting on his shoulder, unbidden thoughts creep into her mind but she swats them away. Deciding that her confession may well break the heavy tension in the air she reminds him of that moment, all those months ago.

“The first time we met...the truth serum...you and masking your pain” her voice is light and full of humour. He winces again as she moves on to the iodine, cleaning the cut. She’s tended a few injuries in her time, this really wasn’t as bad as it looked he wouldn’t need stitches. 

“There is no truth serum that was just an act” he replies gruffly.

“Oh really? Doesn’t look like an act from where I’m standing” she smiles knowingly at him and he tries and fails to stifle his own. “OK so I’m going to need to clean that one now” she points to the graze on his stomach. He looks uneasy for a moment but slowly he nods, she dips the washcloth in the warm water again before wringing it out. Then kneeling between his legs she sets to work, wiping away the grime and blood. He sucks in a sharp breath; it must sting like a bitch. She squeezes his thigh reassuringly with her free hand.

“God that smarts” he grates out.

“Nearly done” she soothes as she applies the iodine, god this stuff stinks but at least he’s not going to contract some awful infection. She needs to get him some ice for that jaw and possibly a cold shower for herself. Really? What is wrong with her, he’s hurt and probably a little messed up after today. She rises to her feet as gracefully as she can manage and he follows her with his eyes. It really doesn’t help her when he looks at her like that; she’s noticed it a lot more of late. That look of longing he shoots her every now and then, she tells herself she’s seeing things that he can’t possibly think of her as anything other than his annoying rookie. When she feels his hand wrap around hers, her heart stops and her breath catches in her throat.

“Thanks” he murmurs, she nods her head awkwardly.

“It’s nothing you wouldn’t do for me” she replies trying to keep her voice even. Carefully he pushes himself to his feet, he sway’s a little and before she realises what she’s doing she puts her other hand on his bicep to steady him. He looks down at her and for a moment she loses herself in those eyes, the ones that have seen so much pain and violence and sadness. He presses his forehead to hers and she thinks she may just stop breathing. 

“I thought my number was up today” he whispers.

She places her flat palm to his chest “Don’t...please, I just...you’re Ok, OK? We’re going to be OK, no-one’s gonna die” he can’t talk like that she can’t stand it. She can barely accept the fact that she almost died, let alone another member of the team and definitely not him. The anxiety she’s been holding onto since this afternoon is like a belt around her chest. He caresses her cheek tenderly.

“Skye...I’m sorry I shouldn’t talk like that...this? It’s nothing I’ve had worse. Just seeing him, how powerful he is...I just don’t know how we’re meant to stop him” he stammers desperately trying to reassure her whilst facing his own anxiety. “I can’t lose you, I just can’t and...If I can’t protect you” she stops him placing her index finger to his lips.

“Shhhh” her voice a soft caress “We have to stop this, we don’t know what’s going to happen. With Mike, with the clairvoyant...so all we can do is live in the moment OK. I’m here and you’re here and we’re safe and maybe that won’t last but for now we have to be thankful that we’re here together” closing her eyes she lets a tear fall. 

He kisses the cheek the tear rolled down, his lips a whisper against her skin. When he pulls back to look at her she can tell he’s gauging her reaction, she’s a little taken aback but she doesn’t pull away. Why would she? Her heart swells at the intimate gesture but he’s not done yet, he kisses the corner of her mouth before his lips ghost over hers. At first they’re just a warm pressure against hers; his kisses are tentative as though he’s scared he’ll frighten her away. But when she sighs against his mouth he deepens the kiss, curling his tongue around hers. Losing herself in his kiss she wraps her arms around his neck anchoring her to him. His hands find her waist, he enfolds her in a warm embrace and just for a moment she feels safe. Like no-one can touch her so long as she’s in his arms, the belt around her chest loosens. They only break their kiss when she feels him grimace, for a moment she’d forgotten all about his injured face and apparently so had he.  
“We need to get you some ice” she smiles.

“I’d rather stay here and kiss you” he tries to waggle his eyebrows at her but hisses when the motion aggravates the cut above his eye “OK maybe ice isn’t such a bad idea” he relents.

“Maybe if you’re a good robot and do as you’re told I’ll kiss you good night” she chuckles.

“Is that a promise?” he asks softly.

“Yeah” her smile’s like the sun, it touches her eyes lighting her up from the inside. It really had been a long day but by all accounts it had ended much better than it started. She didn’t know what had provoked him to kiss her but she knew him well enough to know he didn’t do thinks lightly. As for her feelings they had been creeping up on her for a long time. There had always been something between them a connection, a force that bound them together somehow. He’d told her things he’s never told anyone else and she had done something she had never done before. She had allowed herself to trust him, to depend on him, maybe even to love him. She walked him back to his bunk picking up an ice pack on the way, he doesn’t complain when she helps him into bed. Instead he pulls her down with him and they cuddle up together under the blankets. As promised after he’s iced his cheek, she kisses him goodnight. Sleep pulls her under much quicker than she’d like but her anxiety is gone, at least for now as she takes her own advice and lives in the moment.


End file.
